Mohamed Salah hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.
Left on the bench for the fixture in the capital, Salah became involved in a heated exchange with Jurgen Klopp as he readied himself to enter the field of play. Darwin Nunez took it upon himself to cool down the Egyptian, who could be seen raising his finger in the direction of the Liverpool boss as the pair continued to bicker.
Klopp attempted diffused the situation when speaking after the match, insisting he had spoken to Salah about it in the dressing room, only for the forward to claim “There is going to be fire if I speak.”
Salah’s conduct, coupled with his poor form in recent weeks, has left many questioning whether the 31-year-old will still be a Liverpool player come the start of next season. The 2019 Champions League winner has one year remaining on his contract and was the subject of interest from Saudi Arabia last summer, resulting in a bid worth £150million being made.
So, what should happen next regarding the Reds’ No.11? Our writers have had their say…
Paul Gorst
Two years ago, the decision to hand Mohamed Salah the biggest contract of all time at Liverpool was taken on the trust and belief in the player himself from the club’s owners Fenway Sports Group. Salah backed himself to continue posting the sorts of numbers that had done as a matter of routine across his previous time on Merseyside and the 54 goals scored since have justified that stance at the time.
The question now then is whether the current malaise is a signal of some wider, irreversible decline or is this a player simply suffering from a rare hamstring issue that has contributed towards him playing just 804 Liverpool minutes of the last 2,400.
The prospect of a big-money move to Saudi Arabia seemed a more realistic prospect last year and is perhaps being overstated somewhat this time around. Is the appetite still there from Europe’s top stars to move to the Middle East after such an underwhelming season of low-grade football played in front of tiny crowds? That’s before we even assess whether or not Saudi Pro League clubs are still content to bankroll the chaos that the market became last summer.
So, for Liverpool, the prospect is more of how much they believe Salah is capable of snapping out of this current run of form. Can the Egyptian get back this very best? That is a question that FSG’s CEO of Football Michael Edwards must get to the bottom of alongside sporting director Richard Hughes and Arne Slot, who is now almost certain to be the anointed one to replace Jurgen Klopp.
If the answer is no, then a sale must be a priority this summer to help supplement the squad’s rebuilding. If the belief is that he will, then negotiations need to be stepped up sooner rather than later. One way or another, Salah is a situation that will need addressing as one of the first ports of call for a brand new power axis at Anfield. It is one they must absolutely get right.
Tom Cavilla
If this is to be Mohamed Salah’s final season at the club, it is not shaping up to be the glorious farewell many would have predicted.
Salah has lost his way in front of goal in recent weeks, although he is not alone in that department, and did not appear to be at all pleased after being named on the bench for Liverpool’s game at West Ham.
His actions on the sidelines were simply out of order and has only increased suspicions that all is not well at Liverpool right now, for whatever reason that may be.
